TWO elderly mums are blooming mad after rotting Mother's Day flowers were delivered ten days late.

To the disgust of Madge McNamee, 76, and Irene Freeman, 83, the spring blooms were covered in blue mould and crawling with ants.

The gifts were supposed to arrive on Mothering Sunday on March 22 but did not turn up at the pair's homes in Hanover Gardens, Bicester, until last Wednesday - April Fool's Day.

Mrs McNamee had been sent flowers from a close friend in Ireland and Mrs Freeman had been expecting flowers from a daughter in Leeds.

Both parcels were ordered through a Jersey-based flower delivery service called Flying Flowers and had been sent on March 16. They arrived in good time at the sorting office in Murdock Road but were then forgotten about.

Almost a fortnight passed before the depot finally realised and sent a sheepish manager round to apologise.

Mrs McNamee said: "I felt sorry for him, really. Then I opened the flowers and was disgusted.

"They were sent by a friend of my late son. It was supposed to be a surprise so I was not expecting them.

"She called me after Mother's Day and asked me whether I had received the card. She said nothing about the flowers. When they finally came I called her but I did not tell her what they looked like. I simply said I had received them." Mrs Freeman said: "I always received flowers from my daughter. I thought she had forgotten me."

Pat Maggs, another daughter of Mrs Freeman who lives in Bicester, opened the box. She said: "I was absolutely fuming. It was like lifting the lid off a coffin."

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said the postman concerned had been severely reprimanded. and both woman had received a fresh bouquet of flowers as an apology.

She said: "It was simply a human error and we are deeply sorry."

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